Artist Danny Brito raises $1,200 for vet bills with pin fundraiser

The Miami-Florida based artist found out that his Pug, Roxy, who was suffering from an ulcer on her eyeball, would need to go see an expensive specialist and possibly have a cornea transplant to resolve the issue.

“It’s not the news we wanted to hear,” he wrote in an Instagram post earlier this week. “But we’re staying positive that she will be able to get her eye fixed with these specialists.”

Yesterday, he launched the Shopdannybrito.com Fundraiser Pin Drop and Community Giveaway to help cover the potentially high costs of Roxy’s medical expenses. A cartoon illustration of Roxy became available in Brito’s Etsy store as a pin, t-shirt and sticker.

“You have the option to donate over the retail price if you wanna help out a little more,” he wrote in a post promoting the fundraiser. “It’s like Gofundme, but you’re getting a gift in return.”

A few hours after his initial announcement, Brito updated his Instagram. He had taken Roxy to her appointment with the specialist and discovered that the procedure she would need to have would not be as invasive, or as expensive as initially thought.

“You guys, we did it! We just got back from Roxy’s appointment with her specialist and she was approved for the non-invasive procedure. We raised about $1,200 in just a few hours and that just about covers today’s tests she had done, medication and her surgery,” he said.

Roxy will be having a procedure in September called a cornea scrape and a small mass will be removed from her eye, both of which can be done with local anesthesia. The remaining profits from the fundraiser will be used to cover the costs of the dog’s blood work and follow-up visits.

In the meantime, pins, stickers and shirts will still be available in the shop, but only at retail price. Customers will still be entered for the giveaway by purchasing a tee or pin until the pins arrive in two weeks time. Brito said he will continue to post more details about the prizes as they start to arrive.